Inmate dies in ER at hospital
By Staff Reports
Published in News on August 2, 2010 2:03 PM
No foul play is suspected in the Sunday afternoon death of a man being held in the Wayne County Jail, Sheriff's Capt. Fane Greenfield said today.
As normal procedure the State Bureau of Investi-gation has been contacted to investigate the incident and an autopsy will be performed.
Greenfield said that it was around 1:15 p.m. Sunday when Patrick Fitzgerald Shields, 42, began complaining "about hurting in his chest and stomach." Shields was moved into a single cell where he passed out while an officer was talking to him, Greenfield said.
The officer, who is also a firefighter and certified in CPR, started CPR on Shields and EMS was called. Shields was transported to Wayne Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Sheriff Carey Winders, Chief Deputy Ray Smith and Greenfield notified Shields' family.
Shields was arrested on July 27 by Goldsboro Police Department on a fugitive warrant out of Maryland.
Hospital officials said federal laws prohibit them from releasing cause or time of death. They did confirm that Shields died in the emergency room and that the body was sent to the state medical examiner's Greenville office for autopsy.